Vicente Sarmiento

Santa Ana is facing a possible three-way race for mayor in November, has wide-open contests for three of its City Council seats, and the largest fundraising to date has been by the city’s police union, according to the latest campaign reports.

The new law bans any enclosed spaces, along with food and medical services without prior city permission. City officials say it's needed to protect public health and safety, while homeless advocates say it's unconstitutional and cruel.

“This is probably the most political and divisive city council Santa Ana has had,” Councilwoman Michele Martinez said as the council debated the appointment. “Let’s be honest with each other. We really don’t like one another, and we really don’t trust one another.”

The Santa Ana City Council is considering filing a lawsuit against the county – and inviting other cities to join – alleging mismanagement of the millions of dollars in federal homelessness money the county gets each year.

The City Council directed staff to study actions to assist cooperatives – such as reducing business license fees and allowing them to apply for small business grants – and bring back recommendations to the council within 90 days.

Judge David O Carter this week demonstrated real leadership on combating homelessness by getting out into the field and challenging county officials to focus public resources on meeting immediate needs of riverbed residents. Yet will this rare focus last? Could receivership of federal and state funds coming into the County of Orange be on the horizon?

Rashad Al-Dabbagh, who lives in Anaheim and is the founder/director of the Arab American Civic Council, criticizes a decision last week by the U.S. Census Bureau that the 2020 Census would not include a new “Middle Eastern or North African” category in its race and ethnicity data collection for the 2020 Census.

Orange County supervisors step up their attack on public comment at their regular public meetings by pushing taxpayers to the end of their meeting agenda. The change means offering public comment to county supervisors will take hours of waiting.